When her last breath neared
by Red Lips 'nd Cloudy Eyes
Summary: After years of battles, Kakashi finally defeats his rival from Cloud. However, he's not quite sure how he feels about the fact that she's actually dying. Hatake Kakashi/Akamizu Juri fic.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Naruto, but I do own the character Akamizu Juri.**

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><p><strong>When her last breath neared<strong>

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><p>The blood was everywhere. Her blood, some of his, but mostly hers. She was on the ground, panting hard and clutching her side where too much blood was gushing from. She wouldn't last very long, he estimated.<p>

It's funny how, after years and years of fighting each other, the prospect of her dying made him feel surprisingly depressed. She wasn't just some enemy after all.

He had known her for ages, ever since they both became members of the special forces. He in the hidden village of the Leaf and she in Cloud. Years and years had gone by and they'd fought battle after battle against each other.

And in a few moments, all of that would end for them.

A weak and bloodied smile appeared on her face. "Why looking so grim, Hatake..." she panted, "you finally did it."

Kakashi wasn't sure what he should say, or do for that matter. He felt emotions raging through him he hadn't felt in two decades.

"Are you going to finish it, or are you just going to stand there and watch me die?"

Her smile hadn't faded yet. How she managed that was beyond him. Many worthy shinobi would've been lying flat on their faces by now. But he knew she was more than just a worthy shinobi. She was his rival and enemy and therefore supposed to last.

"I'm going to miss you."

Her eyes widened at this statment. "wh...what?" He watched her blush madly, once again surprised that she had any blood left to do so. The forest floor was getting soaked in the red, sticky liquid.

"What do you mean, you'll miss me?"

Kakashi thought his answer through before he spoke. "I will miss our battles," he said, tapping his chin with his index finger without letting his eyes leave hers. "I will miss your brilliant battle quips," he slowly approached her.

Juri's mouth began to form a watery smile again. "We've had a good time, I guess."

"Shush, I'm not done yet." Kakashi replied. Her smile got a little wider. "I'm going to miss the way your legs feel around me when you get to pin me to the ground."

Then, the smile turned into a mischievous one.

"Perv."

Kakashi grinned at this accusation. "Coming from you, that means something." he said, crinkling his eyes at her.

Juri knew exactly what he was hinting about. She shared Kakashi's passion for the Icha Icha-series after all. "Yeah, you're right," She grinned evilly, "You should be exhilarated by the fact that, when I die, you'll be Jiraiya's number one fan."

"Don't think that just because you happened to be dying that I'm acknowledging you as my superior in pervertedness." Kakashi said with a fake strict voice.

Juri pouted as much as she could muster. It would be her last pout after all.

"You should know by now puppy-eyes nor pouts will work on me."

The pout was gone in a nano-second and replaced by a bored look. "Yes, we all know you can't be swayed, oh mighty copy-ninja of the Hidden Leaf village."

Kakashi chuckled at that, but stopped when he realized he had almost forgotten about the fact that Akamizu Juri was dying at his feet. His mood sobered instantly.

"I'm going to miss you trying though," he said while kneeling in front of her. "I was planning on giving in someday."

She looked like a kid who just won a prize. "You mean you were planning to tell Jiraiya to dedicate his next novel to me?" she even managed to clap her hands together in joy.

Kakashi took a moment to take in the scene he saw before him.

There she was, his favourite rival Akamizu Juri, dropped to the ground, bleeding all over the place, her chest heaving with irregular breaths, but still laughing like it all was going to be just fine.

Things were going to be fine for her. She wouldn't be feeling anything soon. He was going to live on, as always trying to fill that gap in his heart and soul his family and teammates left when they died.

The gap she will leave behind when she goes...

While realising that, Kakashi decided he wouldn't let her get away from this life so easily. He picked a flabbergasted Juri from the ground and made way to the nearest medical post.

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><p><strong>I'm trying to get myself back on track in fanfiction world, so some real feedback would be welcome. Please do not try to be nice because you're scared you'll hurt my feelings; I assure you I can handle it. Tell me what you think and what you would've done different. In return, I will review one of yours if you wish me to.<strong>

**Thanks loads!**

**~RL&CE**


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Naruto.**

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><p><strong>When her last breath neared<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

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><p>The medics at the post never questioned him about the konoichi he brought in for them to heal. She wasn't wearing her hitai-ate anymore since she lost it in their last battle, but Kakashi could easily decipher the frowning faces of the medics. They knew Juri's an enemy nin. Her picture had been in fire-country's bingo book for a long while now and her looks stood out on the battlefield. That slate blue hair and those stormy grey eyes weren't something to overlook, even when she's covered on her own blood.<p>

Luckily it wasn't their place to argue with someone of his ranks, so they got to work quickly. Juri had passed out during their travel to the medical post, so it was hard to tell from where he was observating how she was doing. Just the fact that she still had enough blood in her body to make the medics look like butchers in no time after they were trying to heal her.

The clenching feelings in his gut was really beginning to bother him. Everyone knew it wasn't healthy for a shinobi to feel like this when an enemy was dying, especially not when it was by your own doing. He should be feeling glad, relieved and his ego should have grown some bigger. This woman wasn't an easy opponent after all.

But they had known each other for such a long time and their relationship wasn't just that of enemies. They had shared a lot more over the years than just battles.

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><p>Juri had never liked waking up, not in any situation. But this was pushing it.<p>

Every inch of her body was aching, though not as much as it should've been. Someone had drugged her to quell the pain, and she knew she should be grateful. She clearly remembered her last battle with Hatake Kakashi. She had been a little distracted at the moment, which had been her downfall. One cannot afford to be distracted while fighting the copy-nin.

Her head throbbed and she couldn't get her eyes to open. It was like she didn't have any control on her body whatsoever.

Was he still here with her?

Juri tried to sense around for his chakra, but found even that to be difficult and exhausting. What the hell was going on in her body anyway? She had been wounded and unconscious before, but it hadn't been like this. Is it the drugs doing this to her? If only she could open her eyes and see if there was someone around who could give her some damn answers.

And out of all times she choose now to start craving her cigarettes.

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><p>Normally, Kakashi found reading his Icha Icha books to be the perfect solution to his troubled mind. But not today. It might have been, if the woman in the story hadn't been blessed with blue hair and long creamy legs.<p>

It made him think of Juri's legs covered in blood. And then her hands and arms. Her belly. Her back.

Her face.

Her smile.

He snapped his book shut and glanced at the gray sky. There was a storm coming up. It would suit his state of mind, he decided, and so he waited for the thick dark clouds to roll closer. A fat raindrop fell onto his head. Not at all warned by this, Kakashi stayed rooted to his place and waited for the voilence of nature to strike.

It didn't.

He blinked up at the sky once more and noticed the strom had changed direction all of a sudden. Disappointed by the way nature wouldn't comply with his moods, Kakashi dragged his feet back to the medical post.

When he entered, he looked around for some stray medic who could tell him a little more about his rivals' state, only to find they had all vanished. Raising his one visable brow, Kakashi made his way in direction of where he believed was a slight trace of Juri's chakra and a lot of stronger others.

After one left turn he looked down a hallway to find the medic nin crowded in front of a window that probably gave view to a special bedridden patient. Juri most likely.

One of the medics sensed him coming down the hall and moved in front of him to block his way.

Kakashi was irritated by the medics behaviour, but knew better than to get on those pleoples bad side. They can be quite stubborn if they choose to be, the best example being the fift Hokage and their mutual student Sakura. He quickly shook off the shudder caused by the thought of those women in their medic-modes.

"How is he?"

The medic had obviously expected him to demand his passage into her room instead of his calm quiestion, but didn't relax just yet.

"We were able to heal all the damage. Not as neatly as could've been done in a proper hospital though. There will be scars..."

Kakashi nearly flinched at the thought of Juri's creamy skin all marred because of his doing.

"Is she awake?"

"Yes, but we didn't know how she would react once she woke up, so we drugged her in a way she can't move yet."

"She's a reasonable woman, not some sort of rabid animal. Undo it." Kakashi wanted to step around the medic in direction to the door leading to Juri. His irritation grew while the medic made no movement to let him through.

"I'm afraid I can't just do that. She's an enemy and we should report to the Hokage about this situation. She might want her brought to Konoha. It would be easier to have her in this state than struggling all the way there..."

"You will do no such thing."

The medic fell quiet, being intimidated by the glare the copy-nin shot him.

"Is she fit for transport?"

The medic blinked in confusement. "B-but you just told me you don't want her to b-be brought to K-konoha..."

"I never said she was going to Konoha."

"Oh. I see."

"Now answer my question."

Once again, the medic looked at Kakashi as if he'd just seen him eat a living frog. Kakashi's patience was wearing thin at the moment, and it started to become evident on his face.

Shocked by the irritated state of this superior man, the medic started to look around nervously. The other medics had run off as far as possible the minute Kakashi had gone against their decisions concerning the foreign kunoichi. That had probably been a wise thing to do.

Feeling there wasn't any way to stop the copy-nin to do what he pleased, the medic sighed. "She'll still be weak and she has to take antibiotics to prevent inflammation." And with those words, he openend the door for Kakashi to enter.

He was going to have his ass fired if anyone of the higher-ups found out about this.

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><p>"Where the fuck are you taking me, Hatake? What is your big plan?"<p>

Kakashi looked down at her and chuckled. Her face was red with rage and embarrassment. "You could show a little more gratitude for me getting you help in time and not taking you to Konoha for some interrogation. Besides, the fact that you still haven't got any feelings in your body means you're not feeling the pain you're supposed to. I figure that's a good thing too."

He hoisted her higher up in his arms, while fluently hopping from tree to tree.

Juri huffed. "You're the one who did this to me in the first place, remember?"

"That will teach you not to be distracted while fighting me, Akamizu."

"You...you noticed?"

"It was hard not to."

She averted her eyes and stared absentmindedly over Kakashi's shoulder in the direction they came from.

"What is it?"

"What is what?"

"The thing that's got you defeated."

Juri growled. "It's none of your damn bussiness..."

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><p><strong>Yeah, what is 'the thing', Juri?<strong>

**NothingPersonalx****, ShinobiStar, ****ANguyen504**** and RomanticVulcanolight (one of the greatest Retards alive) , thanks for the encouragement! I wouldn't have written this next little chapter if you hadn't told me you liked the idea. Appearantly I'm one of those who need others approval to do the thing they like XD Go me! **

**And to those others who I know are reading this, but refuse to review; Please don't be shy, I wont bite, I promise! Last time was a mistake! I swear! I'll even leave your families alone...this time... **

**And I'll review one of yours^^**

**~RL&CE**


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